Rock Songs With Offensive Language
In this day and age, many people think hip-hop is the predominant, but I bet most of my blog readers didn't know that even rock has offensive language (albeit sparsely spread out).
Jimi Hendrix Purple Haze
Apart from featuring the devil tri-tone in the intro (not really offensive), the song's most MEMORABLE line has got to be "'scuse me while I PISS the sky." "Piss," slightly more derogatory by Brit standards, is basically a more offensive version of "pee," a la "I need to take a piss. Now what really was unique here is that the line is actually misinterpreted. Perhaps the most accepted version of the line is "'scuse me while I KISS the sky," yet a slightly more contraversial take is "kiss this guy."
Pink Floyd Money
A single from their 1973 hot-seller The Dark Side of The Moon, the song's offensive passage Money, it's a hit/Ah don't give me that do-goody-good bullshit. Today's classic rock stations feature an extra guitar tremble chord (like the one that's heard every few measures throughout the song), and on a side note, there is even an abbreviated single edition going just over 3 minutes and cutting Gilmour's solo in half. The censored version, single or not, is usually referred to nowadays as the "bull-blank" version.
Usage of the word bitch
"Bitch" has become a favorite word in the world of rock. The Stones released a song by that title on 1973's Goat's Head Soup, Elton John recorded a song called The Bitch is Back about the same time as the Stones recorded their song, but the most significant of these would have to be Nazereth's Hair of The Dog say what?
With a cowbellish intro simillar to Grand Funk's We're an American Band, and a riff that is literally a mod of Day Tripper. The song, and respective album, were made with the working title of Son of a Bitch. The hair part itself refers to the folklore of the "hair of the dog that bit you." McCafferty explained that the title was a last-minute change for marketing reasons as communicated by the record company. What still baffles ME to this day, is that this song, and Merrideth Brooks' 1997 hit Bitch, are both played uncensored.
On a side note, HOTD also features the band's take of the Everley Brothers' 1961 soul ballad Love Hurts, which only made the cut on the US pressing on the original (the international pressing replaces it with Guilty). In the years since, the record has been reissued to feature both songs as well as other bonus tracks recorded around the time.
Hair and 1976 albums Close Enough for Rock'n'Roll and Play'n the Game are considered Nazereth's pinnacle.
Shit is popular too
There are two examples of the "s-word." Steve Miller's 1977 hit Jet Airliner, whose riff literally recycles Crossroads, is most notable for the line "Cause I don't want to get caught up in that funky (shit) going down in the city." Nine times out of ten, the s-word is replaced with "kicks" or sometimes even a mute, but I have once or twice heard it uncensored.
But ultimately, the best "s-word" example has got to be ZZ Top's 1983 smash hit Legs. "Whoa I want her/Shit I got to have her/The girl is all right." What's notable is just like Hendrix and even Top's earlier 1975 hit Tush, is misinterpreted. Many, myself included, mistake the s-word for "sure," or even "said."
And let's not forget, the f-word!
Folks you'll be (happy?) to know that there is only ONE known version of the f-word, and that is found in the title track to The Who's 1978 record, Who Are You. The last one before Keith Moon's death. Although it's hard to hear, Daltrey does say, at one point, "Come on who the fuck are you?" I never even paid attention to whether or not classic rock radio censors it.
As you've seen, these were a few examples of foul language in rock. Even modern rock bands partially use obsenity as do their "rock ancestors." Remember that the next time a baby boomer tells you that the music of their generation was clean...
Jimi Hendrix Purple Haze
Apart from featuring the devil tri-tone in the intro (not really offensive), the song's most MEMORABLE line has got to be "'scuse me while I PISS the sky." "Piss," slightly more derogatory by Brit standards, is basically a more offensive version of "pee," a la "I need to take a piss. Now what really was unique here is that the line is actually misinterpreted. Perhaps the most accepted version of the line is "'scuse me while I KISS the sky," yet a slightly more contraversial take is "kiss this guy."
Pink Floyd Money
A single from their 1973 hot-seller The Dark Side of The Moon, the song's offensive passage Money, it's a hit/Ah don't give me that do-goody-good bullshit. Today's classic rock stations feature an extra guitar tremble chord (like the one that's heard every few measures throughout the song), and on a side note, there is even an abbreviated single edition going just over 3 minutes and cutting Gilmour's solo in half. The censored version, single or not, is usually referred to nowadays as the "bull-blank" version.
Usage of the word bitch
"Bitch" has become a favorite word in the world of rock. The Stones released a song by that title on 1973's Goat's Head Soup, Elton John recorded a song called The Bitch is Back about the same time as the Stones recorded their song, but the most significant of these would have to be Nazereth's Hair of The Dog say what?
With a cowbellish intro simillar to Grand Funk's We're an American Band, and a riff that is literally a mod of Day Tripper. The song, and respective album, were made with the working title of Son of a Bitch. The hair part itself refers to the folklore of the "hair of the dog that bit you." McCafferty explained that the title was a last-minute change for marketing reasons as communicated by the record company. What still baffles ME to this day, is that this song, and Merrideth Brooks' 1997 hit Bitch, are both played uncensored.
On a side note, HOTD also features the band's take of the Everley Brothers' 1961 soul ballad Love Hurts, which only made the cut on the US pressing on the original (the international pressing replaces it with Guilty). In the years since, the record has been reissued to feature both songs as well as other bonus tracks recorded around the time.
Hair and 1976 albums Close Enough for Rock'n'Roll and Play'n the Game are considered Nazereth's pinnacle.
Shit is popular too
There are two examples of the "s-word." Steve Miller's 1977 hit Jet Airliner, whose riff literally recycles Crossroads, is most notable for the line "Cause I don't want to get caught up in that funky (shit) going down in the city." Nine times out of ten, the s-word is replaced with "kicks" or sometimes even a mute, but I have once or twice heard it uncensored.
But ultimately, the best "s-word" example has got to be ZZ Top's 1983 smash hit Legs. "Whoa I want her/Shit I got to have her/The girl is all right." What's notable is just like Hendrix and even Top's earlier 1975 hit Tush, is misinterpreted. Many, myself included, mistake the s-word for "sure," or even "said."
And let's not forget, the f-word!
Folks you'll be (happy?) to know that there is only ONE known version of the f-word, and that is found in the title track to The Who's 1978 record, Who Are You. The last one before Keith Moon's death. Although it's hard to hear, Daltrey does say, at one point, "Come on who the fuck are you?" I never even paid attention to whether or not classic rock radio censors it.
As you've seen, these were a few examples of foul language in rock. Even modern rock bands partially use obsenity as do their "rock ancestors." Remember that the next time a baby boomer tells you that the music of their generation was clean...
Comments
Post a Comment